David, the reason I did not make the argument for Nash, is that Nash is a much younger player and would most likely require far more in a trade than Jerome Iginla. Iginla’s trade value is definitely less than Nash’s at this point in his career.

All of this trading Krecji, Thomas or Rask nonsense that I keep hearing makes no sense at all. If the Bruins could trade any of their core guys away It would have to be Horton because of the long term injury health risk. Too bad that Horton is unable to be traded or play.

The Bruins need the presence of a power forward at wing on their second offensive line. The Krecji, Lucic line cannot function properly without a power forward like Horton or Iginla on the wing of that line. Peverly, Pouliot and Kelly just cannot get it done, great players but they lack the natural goal scoring ability of a Horton.

With only one line that can generate offense, this Bruins team will not beat the Rangers in the playoffs, never mind the Canucks. If they deem Horton will not be back at 100% (which seems impossible for this season, my guess is Horton won’t be playing like he did last year for some time). They have to make a move for a top line winger or they will get knocked out of the playoffs. They have the cap space, draft picks, prospects to make a big move.

Bruins will need to score more goals to win the cup this year because Thomas or any other goalie will never be able to recreate that performance last postseason, Thomas’s postseason and season were beyond incredible and will never happen at that level again. If they want to win the cup, they will get a big time contributor before the deadline.

Deano,
You could make a lot of those arguments for Nash, but you are still forgetting that Horton is untradeable right now. You’d have to send Lucic/Krejci and prospect and you forget the CBA is up next season, which means now isn’t a good time to give up really good prospects since we really don’t know if the new CBA will lower payroll or not, and it behooves Chia to keep his options open rather than breaking the bank on a player. Maybe he will, but he just won a cup, so he’s bought himself at least another 5 years worth of low risk/high reward and long term planning moves. So no, he doesn’t really have to go for it. It is O.K. to dream though.

1. Reread my comment, I stated Rask (RFA) would get a significant raise, and Kelly a small one, Kelly has not had a season worth a big raise.

2. None of the other players up for FA are big money guys, they can resign Thornton, Campbell, Pouliot, Paille, for basically what they currently making.

3. Iginla makes 7 million this year and next. Making the Bruins about the only team that he could get traded to. This only works if the Bruins can trade away Horton as part of the deal, the cap hit for the Bruins is only +3M, as Horton makes 4m. If the Bruins can’t trade Horton then this deal makes no sense for either side. Horton needs to get medically cleared before the deadline for that to happen. If Horton is a part of the deal, it helps both clubs, if not then there is no deal.

Bruins traded away the farm for the rental of Kaberle and I don’t see the long term stability of the team hurt, in fact all I see is a cup banner in the garden. They even had to move a better defensmen in mark Staurt to make cap room for that loser Kaberle. Wouldn’t you let Kelly walk as a UFA for Iginla?

The Bruins are in a lot of trouble if Horton is not ready to go before the deadline because they cannot risk keeping him and not having Horton or another top line winger. The offense went from two scoring lines to one, they need the Krecji, Lucic, Horton (or someone else) playing at an elite level to win the cup.

In terms of long term stability. The Bruins have a core of players that could win right now, especially if you added Iginla to the mix, or another winger of that calibre. This team has a window of a couple of years before Chara, Julien, Thomas, Seidenburg, retire and they can’t afford all their young core players.

If the Bruins sign Iginla to an extension before next season they could lower his annual cap hit to 6 million or less and make him a non rental. The Bruins have the money to spend, today they are 10 million plus under the cap. It may be tight next season, but so be it.

Iginla is not a UFA until after next season. Players have waived no trade clauses in the past. Calgary is in no position to win the cup with Iginla, he may not want to leave Calgary but if he wants to win a cup he will have to leave Calgary or win the cup when he is like 40.

I never, ever would trade away Rask for Iginla, I never said that. It was the rumor last season that Calgary would take either of those players straight up for Iginla. I would not trade Rask or Doug Hamilton.

4. Current Cap Space: 10,171,055
Projected Cap Space for next season: 8,957,857
Put Savard on LTIR, +4,007,413
Giving the Bruins 12,965,270 in cap space for next season projected
If you trade Horton, Caron for Iginla, Bruins -1,900,000

Bruins will then have 11,065,270 to resign the following players:
Rask currently makes 1.25m and is a RFA not a UFA
Corvo 2.25m (will get less or will be gone)
Kelly 2.125 m (why should he get more, I couldn’t even find him on the ice last night, I would let him walk for anything more than 2.5m)
Campbell a whopping 1.1m, not going up by a lot, if any, or let him walk
Pouliot 1.1m, is he even worth that, resign him for the same or less
Paille 1.07m, not a big time money guy, good pk play doesn’t bring in the paychecks
Thornton 800K
+1 open roster spot (Caron 1.1m)

What are you talking about? How could they possibly not keep all of these players with almost 12 million to burn, even with Iginla on the roster? Is my math still inaccurate?

Will Iginla get traded here, no of course not. Most likely the Bruins will trade for a winger and a defensemen that are not anywhere near Iginla’s level of play. But if I am going to play GM at work on this blog, then Iginla is the guy I would go after.

Gotta go for the cup again this year, getting scared and not making moves because of future salary cap concerns that don’t exist won’t get this team anywhere.

1. Rask and Kelly already earn $3.4 combined. Don’t you think they both want/deserve a raise?
2. The Bs need to fill a number of other spots. The entire 4th line is up for contracts along with Pouliot and Corvo. That’s 5 spots that will need filling.
3. Iginla makes $7 million, has a no-trade, has said he doesn’t want to leave Calgary and is a UFA. Do you really want to give up those kinds of assets under your control (Horton who is untradeable, Rask, any of the prospects) for a guy that will either leave or demand a contract that could upset the future balance of your entire club?
4. Your Cap math leaves a lot to be desired in my book. 7 FA spots that need to be filled for next year, and you want to either take on a rental player at the expense of the players that might fill those roster spots at the lowest cost, or plan to keep Iginla at a cost that would turn the Bs future cap situation into a considerable predicament.

Would I love to see Iginla in Boston. Sure. Is there any chance in hell it will happen – None.

With the Boychuk deal done. The Bruins have only two real free agents left to consider this offseason, one is Rask (RFA) will get a significant raise. The other Kelly, will prolly get a small raise, so most likely around 3-4 million in terms of a cap hit to keep the players they want this offseason. Which would leave the Bruins somewhere between 6-8 million in cap space next season.

According to capgeek.com, the Bruins are currently (with Savard on LTIR), 10 million plus under the salary cap for this season and over 8 million left to spend for next season.

With all this extra money the Bruins are one of the only contending teams that could add a major core piece to their roster without having to dump players for salary cap reasons.

The player I have wanted the Bruins to trade for is Jerome Iginla. He would instantly bring goal scoring, veteran leadership, toughness, power play goal scoring, the will to win, and could replace Horton’s spot on the line with Krecji and Lucic. Which puts everyone else back in their place on the other lines. Iginla is the big name that could, fit right in and deliver a cup or two to Boston and would not disappoint the way Kaberle did.

Calgary is in ninth place in the west, and they have been just good enough to make the playoffs or just miss for years now. Calgary is also one of the teams with the highest payrolls and least cap space. They have little to no prospects in their system, and lack the draft picks to rebuild. The only way Calgary can rebuild and become a legitimate contender is to move some of their salary and acquire some prospects and draft picks in return. They would have to give up on this season but, in all honesty the ninth place Flames have no shot of winning a cup as currently constituted.

The Bruins have the pieces and draft picks to make a fair offer to Calgary for Iginla. Last season it was rumored they would have taken either Rask or Horton straight up for Iginla.

Bruins have to offer:

Nathan Horton (if trade-able due to his injury) If Bruins can move him for Iginla then they should do it, gives Calgary a younger player, saves them 3 million in cap space, for them to build with. Obviously Horton alone would not be enough so Bruins need to add a combo of the following:

I am sure if the Bruins made an offer to Calgary with some of those prospects, Horton and draft picks they would at the very least consider it.

Yes, Calgary is still in contention, in ninth place, but they have no hope of winning the cup and rebuilding around a 36 year old Iginla is not going to happen when they have no cap room, no draft picks and no prospects. Time to make a deal that will help both organizations.